Methods and apparatuses for batch radio resource command and control in overloaded networks

ABSTRACT

The application describes a communication system including a first apparatus having a single application processor operably coupled to a non-transitory memory and a local group of discrete radio resources each including a modem. The single application processor of the first apparatus is configured to at least execute the instructions of receiving a request from a first user equipment to communicate with a second user equipment in an overloaded network. The single application processor of the first apparatus is also configured to execute the instructions of checking capacity of the local group of radio resources. The single application processor of the first apparatus is further configured to execute the instructions of sending a capacity request for information to a second, remote apparatus in the overloaded network. The second edge router includes a single application processor operably coupled to a non-transitory memory and a local group of discrete radio resources each including a modem.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-provisional applicationSer. No. 15/628,031 filed Jun. 20, 2017, entitled “Method and Apparatusfor Batch Radio Resource Command and Control” which claims the benefitof priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/466,565 filed Mar. 3,2017, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Batch Radio Resource Commandand Control” the contents of which are incorporated by reference intheir entireties. This application is related to a concurrently filednon-provisional application entitled “Method and Systems for TestingNetworks with Batch Radio Resources.”

FIELD

This application is generally related to batch radio resource commandand control in overloaded networks.

BACKGROUND

Mobile devices are ubiquitous in today's digital age. Indeed, mobiledevices such as for example smartphones are on pace to exceed landlinephones by 2020. With their ability to employ software applications,smartphones provide users with a customized experience far surpassingnon-smartphones, e.g., dumb phones.

Generally, smartphone users communicate and navigate the internet viacellular networks when not on Wi-Fi. However, communications onsmartphones face distinct challenges depending upon location. Forexample, smartphones may have limited or no network connectivity inlocations inherently having unreliable network coverage, e.g., on amountain, in the desert, or at a ski resort.

Cellular connectivity may also be compromised when significant numbersof users operate their smartphones in close proximity. In particular,compromised connectivity is often experienced by users at large sportingevents, concerts or outdoor rallies/parades attempting to place voicecalls, send SMS messages, and/or use data 3G/4G/LTE data services forthe internet, commercial messaging applications (CMAs), etc.Unfortunately, it may be at these types of events and times when theneed to communicate with other smartphone users may be at its peak.

While satellite phones and 2-way radios, e.g., walkie-talkies, may existin the marketplace as alternatives to smartphones relying on cellularnetwork coverage, these options have significant drawbacks. Indeed,satellite phones are too expensive for ordinary users to purchase, andultimately use on a consistent basis. 2-way radios do not provide richforms of communication expected by smartphone users. 2-way radios alsodo not offer users the reliability of communications being protectedfrom common third party interception. Moreover, specialized equipment istypically much heavier than modern smart phones and provides for areduced user experience based on target market volumes. In addition,specialized equipment reduces the ability to interact and extendnetworks while allowing users to interact with familiar technologies anduser interfaces.

What is desired in the art is an apparatus and method for connectingmobile device users in areas experiencing network congestion.

SUMMARY

The foregoing needs are met, to a great extent, by the application, atleast directed to techniques and systems for managing a network of radioresources.

One aspect of the application is directed to a communication system. Thecommunication system includes a first apparatus including a singleapplication processor operably coupled to a non-transitory memory and alocal group of discrete radio resources each including a modem. Thesingle application processor of the first apparatus is configured to atleast execute the instructions of receiving a request from a first userequipment to communicate with a second user equipment in an overloadednetwork. The single application processor of the first apparatus is alsoconfigured to execute the instructions of checking capacity of the localgroup of radio resources. The single application processor of the firstapparatus is further configured to execute the instructions of sending acapacity request for information to a second, remote apparatus in theoverloaded network. The second edge router includes a single applicationprocessor operably coupled to a non-transitory memory and a local groupof discrete radio resources each including a modem.

Another aspect of the application is directed to a communication systemincluding a first edge router including a single application processoroperably coupled to a non-transitory memory and a local group ofdiscrete radio resources each including a modem. The communicationsystem also includes a second edge router operably in communication withthe first edge router. The second edge router includes a singleapplication processor operably coupled to a non-transitory memory and alocal group of discrete radio resources each including a modem. Thefirst edge router is configured to control the local group of discreteradio resources of the second edge router to handle a request from userequipment.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain embodiments of theinvention in order that the detailed description thereof herein may bebetter understood, and in order that the present contribution to the artmay be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional embodimentsof the invention that will be described below and which will form thesubject matter of the claims appended hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to facilitate a fuller understanding of the invention,reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, in which likeelements are referenced with like numerals. These drawings should not beconstrued as limiting the invention and intended only to beillustrative.

FIG. 1A illustrates a node or user equipment (UE) according to an aspectof the application.

FIG. 1B illustrates an exemplary computing system used to implement oneor more nodes according to an aspect of the application.

FIG. 2 illustrates software functionality configured on communicationsystem controlled by an application processor for interfacing with radioresources according to an aspect of the application.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a communication systemincluding plural radio resources.

FIG. 4 illustrates a communication system communicating with UE or athird party network provider according to an aspect of the application.

FIG. 5 illustrates the communication system of FIG. 4 interfacing withdiscrete radio resources of different types.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a communication systemincluding a single application processor operably coupled to plural,discrete baseband processors according to an aspect of the application.

FIG. 7 illustrates multiple communication systems operably incommunication with one another to share radio resources according to anaspect of the application.

FIG. 8 illustrates a radio command queue and global response queue ofthe communication system.

FIG. 9 illustrates protocols for UE in the field to communicate with thecommunication system according to an aspect of the application.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of UE shown in FIG. 9associated with hikers in areas of limited or no connectivity thatcommunicate with the communication system.

FIG. 11 illustrates plural communication systems in communication witheach other to share radio resources according to an aspect of theapplication.

FIG. 12 illustrates plural communication systems having radio resourcesbeing evaluated and controlled by one of the communication systems.

FIG. 13 illustrates plural communication systems in an area that monitorusage to share with a third party according to an aspect of theapplication.

FIG. 14 illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI) of thecommunication system showing local and remote radio resources.

FIG. 15 illustrates a GUI of all communication systems including modemmanagers in a specified location.

FIG. 16 illustrates another GUI of modem managers and their respectiveradio resource count in a specified location.

FIG. 17 illustrates a GUI of the communication system showinginformation of the radio resources identified in FIG. 16.

FIGS. 18A-E illustrate GUIs of a communication system according toanother embodiment.

FIG. 19 illustrates protocols between a communication system includingtraffic generation software, a base transceiver station (BTS) controlledby a base station controller (BSC), and a mobile switching center (MSC)on the network according to an aspect of the application.

FIG. 20 illustrates an exemplary embodiment wherein SMS is generated bythe communication system and sent to UEs via the BTS, SCS and MSC.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of theinvention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited in its application to the details of construction and to thearrangements of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of embodiments orembodiments in addition to those described and of being practiced andcarried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that thephraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract,are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded aslimiting.

Reference in this application to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “oneor more embodiments,” or the like means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of, for example, the phrases “an embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutuallyexclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features are describedwhich may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by the other.Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirementsfor some embodiments but not by other embodiments.

According to the application, the cellular network may be a CDMA, TDMA,FDMA, OFDMA, or a SC-FDMA network. CDMA network may implement a radiotechnology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000,etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. ATDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Global System forMobile Communications (GSM), Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System(D-AMPS), etc. An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such asEvolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.16(WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM®, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part ofUniversal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). 3GPP Long TermEvolution (LTE) and LTE Advanced (LTE-A) are releases of UMTS that useE-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described indocuments from an organization named “3rd Generation PartnershipProject” (3GPP).

Internet of Things (IoT)

The IoT is the inter-working of physical devices, such as for example,vehicles, home products, smart devices, etc. These devices are embeddedwith electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivitywhich enable these objects to collect and exchange data. Someauthorities define IoT as a global infrastructure for the informationsociety, enabling advanced services by interconnecting (physical andvirtual) things based on existing and evolving interoperable informationand communication technologies. For these purposes a “thing” is “anobject of the physical world (physical things) or the information world(virtual things), which is capable of being identified and integratedinto communication networks”. The IoT allows objects to be sensed orcontrolled remotely across existing network infrastructure. As a result,opportunities are created for more direct integration of the physicalworld into computer-based systems resulting in improved efficiency,accuracy. When IoT is augmented with sensors and actuators, thetechnology becomes an instance of the more general class ofcyber-physical systems. This also encompasses technologies, such as forexample, smart grids, virtual power plants, smart homes, intelligenttransportation and smart cities. Each thing is uniquely identifiablethrough its embedded computing system and is also able to interoperatewithin the existing Internet infrastructure. Experts estimate that theIoT will encompass about 30 billion objects by 2020. This application isenvisaged to include IoT devices with respect to the descriptions ofnodes.

General Architecture

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of an example hardware/software architectureof a node of a network, which may operate as a machine-to-machine (M2M)server, gateway, device, or other node in an M2M network. As shown inFIG. 1A, the node 30 may include a processor 32, non-removable memory44, removable memory 46, a speaker/microphone 38, a keypad 40, adisplay, touchpad, and/or indicators 42, a power source 48, a globalpositioning system (GPS) chipset 50, and other peripherals 52. The node30 may also include communication circuitry, such as a transceiver 34and a transmit/receive element 36. It will be appreciated that the node30 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements whileremaining consistent with an embodiment. This node may be a node thatimplements the time flexibility functionality described herein.

The processor 32 may be a general purpose processor, a special purposeprocessor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), aplurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in associationwith a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application SpecificIntegrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGAs)circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine,and the like. In general, the processor 32 may executecomputer-executable instructions stored in the memory (e.g., memory 44and/or memory 46) of the node in order to perform the various requiredfunctions of the node. For example, the processor 32 may perform signalcoding, data processing, power control, input/output processing, and/orany other functionality that enables the node 30 to operate in awireless or wired environment. The computer executable instructionsstored in the memory of the node, and executed by the processor. Theprocessor 32 may run application-layer programs (e.g., browsers) and/orradio access-layer (RAN) programs and/or other communications programs.The processor 32 may also perform security operations such asauthentication, security key agreement, and/or cryptographic operations,such as at the access-layer and/or application layer for example.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the processor 32 is coupled to its communicationcircuitry (e.g., transceiver 34 and transmit/receive element 36). Theprocessor 32, through the execution of computer executable instructions,may control the communication circuitry in order to cause the node 30 tocommunicate with other nodes via the network to which it is connected.While FIG. 1A depicts the processor 32 and the transceiver 34 asseparate components, it will be appreciated that the processor 32 andthe transceiver 34 may be integrated together in an electronic packageor chip.

The transmit/receive element 36 may be configured to transmit signalsto, or receive signals from, other nodes, including M2M servers,gateways, device, and the like. For example, in an embodiment, thetransmit/receive element 36 may be an antenna configured to transmitand/or receive RF signals. The transmit/receive element 36 may supportvarious networks and air interfaces, such as WLAN, WPAN, cellular, andthe like. In an embodiment, the transmit/receive element 36 may be anemitter/detector configured to transmit and/or receive IR, UV, orvisible light signals, for example. In yet another embodiment, thetransmit/receive element 36 may be configured to transmit and receiveboth RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that thetransmit/receive element 36 may be configured to transmit and/or receiveany combination of wireless or wired signals.

In addition, although the transmit/receive element 36 is depicted inFIG. 1A as a single element, the node 30 may include any number oftransmit/receive elements 36. More specifically, the node 30 may employMIMO technology. Thus, in an embodiment, the node 30 may include two ormore transmit/receive elements 36 (e.g., multiple antennas) fortransmitting and receiving wireless signals.

The transceiver 34 may be configured to modulate the signals that are tobe transmitted by the transmit/receive element 36 and to demodulate thesignals that are received by the transmit/receive element 36. As notedabove, the node 30 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, thetransceiver 34 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the node30 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as UTRA and IEEE 802.11, forexample.

The processor 32 may access information from, and store data in, anytype of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 44 and/or theremovable memory 46. For example, the processor 32 may store sessioncontext in its memory, as described above. The non-removable memory 44may include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a harddisk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory46 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick,a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments,the processor 32 may access information from, and store data in, memorythat is not physically located on the node 30, such as on a server or ahome computer. The processor 32 may be configured to control lightingpatterns, images, or colors on the display or indicators 42 to reflectthe status of communications and to provide a graphical user interface.

The processor 32 may receive power from the power source 48, and may beconfigured to distribute and/or control the power to the othercomponents in the node 30. The power source 48 may be any suitabledevice for powering the node 30. For example, the power source 48 mayinclude one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd),nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion),etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

The processor 32 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 50, which isconfigured to provide location information (e.g., longitude andlatitude) regarding the current location of the node 30. It will beappreciated that the node 30 may acquire location information by way ofany suitable location-determination method while remaining consistentwith an embodiment.

The processor 32 may further be coupled to other peripherals 52, whichmay include one or more software and/or hardware modules that provideadditional features, functionality and/or wired or wirelessconnectivity. For example, the peripherals 52 may include varioussensors such as an accelerometer, biometrics (e.g., fingerprint)sensors, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (forphotographs or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port or otherinterconnect interfaces, a vibration device, a television transceiver, ahands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM)radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game playermodule, an Internet browser, and the like.

The node 30 may be embodied in other apparatuses or devices, such as asensor, consumer electronics, a wearable device such as a smart watch orsmart clothing, a medical or eHealth device, a robot, industrialequipment, a drone, a vehicle such as a car, truck, train, or airplane.The node 30 may connect to other components, modules, or systems of suchapparatuses or devices via one or more interconnect interfaces, such asan interconnect interface that may comprise one of the peripherals 52.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram of an exemplary computing system 90 which mayalso be used to implement one or more nodes of a network, and which mayoperate as an M2M server, gateway, device, or other node in an M2Mnetwork. Computing system 90 may comprise a computer or server and maybe controlled primarily by computer readable instructions, which may bein the form of software, wherever, or by whatever means such software isstored or accessed. Such computer readable instructions may be executedwithin a processor, such as central processing unit (CPU) 91, to causecomputing system 90 to do work. In many known workstations, servers, andpersonal computers, central processing unit 91 is implemented by asingle-chip CPU called a microprocessor. In other machines, the centralprocessing unit 91 may comprise multiple processors. Coprocessor 81 isan optional processor, distinct from main CPU 91 that performsadditional functions or assists CPU 91.

In operation, CPU 91 fetches, decodes, and executes instructions, andtransfers information to and from other resources via the computer'smain data-transfer path, system bus 80. Such a system bus connects thecomponents in computing system 90 and defines the medium for dataexchange. System bus 80 typically includes data lines for sending data,address lines for sending addresses, and control lines for sendinginterrupts and for operating the system bus. An example of such a systembus 80 is the PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus.

Memories coupled to system bus 80 include random access memory (RAM) 82and read only memory (ROM) 93. Such memories include circuitry thatallows information to be stored and retrieved. ROMs 93 generally containstored data that cannot easily be modified. Data stored in RAM 82 can beread or changed by CPU 91 or other hardware devices. Access to RAM 82and/or ROM 93 may be controlled by memory controller 92. Memorycontroller 92 may provide an address translation function thattranslates virtual addresses into physical addresses as instructions areexecuted. Memory controller 92 may also provide a memory protectionfunction that isolates processes within the system and isolates systemprocesses from user processes. Thus, a program running in a first modecan access only memory mapped by its own process virtual address space;it cannot access memory within another process's virtual address spaceunless memory sharing between the processes has been set up.

In addition, computing system 90 may contain peripherals controller 83responsible for communicating instructions from CPU 91 to peripherals,such as printer 94, keyboard 84, mouse 95, and disk drive 85.

Display 86, which is controlled by display controller 96, is used todisplay visual output generated by computing system 90. Such visualoutput may include text, graphics, animated graphics, and video. Display86 may be implemented with a CRT-based video display, an LCD-basedflat-panel display, gas plasma-based flat-panel display, or atouch-panel. Display controller 96 includes electronic componentsrequired to generate a video signal that is sent to display 86. Thedisplay may include a graphical user interface such as those illustratedin the accompanying figures, and described below in more detail.

Further, computing system 90 may contain communication circuitry, suchas for example a network adaptor 97, that may be used to connectcomputing system 90 to an external communications network to enable thecomputing system 90 to communicate with other nodes of the network.

Framework

According to another aspect of this application, a programmableuniversal modem architecture (framework) that creates a reliable andreusable communication path between a communication device(modem/GPS/Wi-Fi card) and a user is envisaged. An exemplary embodimentof the framework is illustrated in FIG. 2. The framework provides amodular system upon which new capabilities rapidly can be developed anddeployed. In an embodiment, the framework may include a graphical userinterface (GUI) from which the user or administrator can view activityfor one or more radio resources controlled either locally or remotely.As will be discussed below in more detail, the framework may alsoreceive transmissions from one or more users in a location either off oron a cellular network. In another embodiment, the framework may alsocommunicate with a third party, such as for example a network provider,to perform scanning and testing protocols over one or more slices of anetwork.

Generally, the framework performs various functions or batch operationson a bank of N modems. This framework is extensible to support any USBdevice and envisaged to include Wi-Fi, GPS, SatCom, or an equivalentthereof. The software operating on the framework enables scripting andbatch operations on nodes of communications networks. FIG. 3 illustratesan exemplary embodiment of the technology. Here, the framework operateson system whereby a main processor operably communicates with plural,discrete radio resources, e.g., modems. As shown in this embodiment, themain processor and plural radio resources are located on a single,unitary device.

According to another embodiment, the discrete, radio resources can bemanaged by the main processor including a multi-threaded Python enginewhich communicates with a Node.js server. As shown in FIG. 4, theNode.js server may communicate with a client or third-party GUI via websockets that enable the system to customize specific applications. It isenvisaged that the core framework may employ multiple open sourcesoftware packages. In the framework, the foundational components includesoftware such as Python, Linux and Node.js. As will be discussed herein,while radio resource is interchangeably used with the term modem, it isunderstood the modem is a part of the radio resource that provides themeans to modulate and demodulate signals for communication with otherradio resources and the network. As a result, radio resources becomecommoditized in an embodiment of the application and allow for thetransfer of data and agnostic control of these resources to create aflexible framework for batch processing and coordinated efforts.

As further shown in FIG. 4, a modem/radio resource manager is located inthe modem access thread DAEMON of the server. The modem manager createsan individual process for every modem that is discovered on startup.Each of these processes is given its own TCP port allowing it to becommanded via the combination of the overall system's IP address andport. These ports are maintained in a range and this range must beaccessible to all other systems on the same subnet via firewallmodifications. An example of a typical setup would be where the systemhas an IP address of 192.168.0.2 and 16 modems. Each of the modems wouldbe assigned a TCP port between [XXXX and XXXX]. 192.168.0.2:XXXX wouldbe a modem manager listening for commands.

On startup, the system scans the USB bus for available modems andidentifies compatible devices via vendor identification (VID) andproduct identification (PID). The VID and PID of compatible devices arekept in a usb.json file.

The modem access thread daemon (MAT Daemon) in the server manages thecommands of each of the individual modem manager threads. As shown inFIG. 4, three local modems have been identified on startup. Each modemcommunicates with the local modem manager. The modems may be part ofsimilar or different radio resources. For instance, as shown in FIG. 5,the modems are part of discrete and different radios. The radios shownin FIG. 5 are exemplary radios that have been or could be integratedinto this system. Examples include a Telit LN930 cellularmachine-to-machine module which contains multiple internal radios forcommunicating with GSM, UMTS, and LTE networks. A more flexible exampleis the Epiq solutions software defined radio (SDR) that can beconfigured to communicate with many RANs in software. A further exampleincludes a Wi-Fi modem, such as an Intel 8260 wireless AC card or anAtheros Wi-Fi card. One radio may operate on GSM/GPRS, UMTS/HSPA, LTE orGPS. Another radio may be software defined. Yet another radio mayoperate via Bluetooth.

According to an embodiment, the node.js server of the system also isconfigured to communicate with the server of other remote systems viaJSON messages. Each remote server includes a respective modem managerand modem access thread daemon. Both solicited and unsolicited messagesare possible. The node.js.server can create an individualized sessionfor one or more radio resources of the remote server. Once the remoteradio resource is authenticated, this session is valid until the tab isclosed or alternatively, the page is refreshed. Future sessionimprovements will add the ability for admin users to set a sessiontimeout. These concepts will be discussed in more detail below.

In another embodiment, the system may create one or more default usergroups, e.g., admin and standard. These can be added in themodules—module.json file—which can define multiple characteristics forthe new user group. All users may be stored in a collection inside theMongoDB.

According to another embodiment, the system relies upon the NoSQLMongoDB project. MongoDB provides a lightweight and rapid mechanism tostore data quickly. Retrieval of the data can be time consuming andsteps should be taken to only retrieve data from mongo when absolutelynecessary. MongoDB can handle massive amounts of parallel writes withlittle impact to system performance—which is ideal for headlessoperations. The majority of the framework's applications will spendtheir time in a headless mode. That is, it only displays data to theuser after the intensive operations are completed. All data retrievaloperations are secondary to data storage operations.

According to yet another embodiment, the foundational components of thesystem provide features for managing the bank of modems. Modules providemission specific tailored functionality. This functionality is managedfrom a custom GUI framework that provides system management. The coremodules of the framework will be discussed below in more detail as wellas shown in the drawings. The core module of the framework provides theDashboard, Navigation, Modem Management, and System Administration. TheRaw Serial module allows for the commanding of a USB/PCI endpoint devicedirectly from the GUI via a serial interface. It provides for a historyof commands sent, an output of received responses, and an area todirectly enter a command to send to the endpoint.

According to a further embodiment, a traffic generator (TGEN) module isprovided. TGEN is intended to load test a base station controller andsubsequent network subsystem components by using simulated IMSI and IMEIpairs to register and subsequently be rejected in a rapid manner. Thisenables the measurement of maximum registration rates.

Coordinated Batch Processing

According to another aspect of the application, coordinated batchprocessing of radio resources by an application processor (AP) isdescribed as a tested way to improve communications. Generally, the APmay be associated with ‘N’ radio resources. This is illustrated in anexemplary embodiment as shown in FIG. 6. Here, an edge router on anetwork communicates with disparate resources in an environment. Theradio resources in this application may include modems (chipsets orchips), cellular basebands, Wi-Fi radio, Bluetooth radio, softwaredefined radio, or any other RFIC/SDR solution that can communicatewirelessly with another peer-to-peer radio, an ad-hoc network, a radioaccess network (RAN) or similar technology. The radio resources maycommunicate with 3GPP2 cellular networks such as CDMA, 3GPP cellularnetworks such as GSM, GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA, LTE, etc., WLANs, WiMAXnetworks, GPS, Bluetooth, and broadcast networks.

While FIG. 6 shows a single AP connected to ‘N’ discrete, radioresources (e.g., bank of modems), FIG. 7 illustrates multiple groups ofa singular AP:‘N’ discrete, radio resources communicating with oneanother. The AP of each group is capable of coordinating messages amongand between the connected radio resources ‘N’. As a result, a system ofsystems is enabled by connecting multiple systems via an applicationprocessor network layer linked via an Internet Protocol (IP) or asimilar connectivity option.

In an embodiment, the radio resources are assigned routable transportlayer ports (via TCP or its equivalent). These may include UDP,UDP-lite, SCTP, DCCP and RUDP. This allows for a multi-systemcoordinated network across any supported spectrum with systems inpotentially geospatially diverse systems, via the bridges and gatewaysconnecting physically enabled radio areas, peer-to-peers, ad-hocs, orsimilar wireless networks and disparately enabled systems. The systemallows for a rapidly reusable reference architecture whereby data isefficiently routed from cellular to cellular, cellular to Wi-Fi, orsimilar. In some aspects, coordinated network loading onresource-limited links is also envisaged according to this application.

In another embodiment, the radio resources are treated as an agnostic,capability bound, component that can be dynamically assigned tasks basedon application layer tasking. This application is envisaged to work inlayers 3, 4 and 5. For instance, a RAN system test may incorporatetesting filtering for bad message types, and gather information onresponse latency or network timing. This can allow for testing of edgecases that may not be encountered until after system deployment andloading.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary embodiment illustrating a command received by aradio access thread manager. In particular, the radio access threadmanager includes a radio manager. The radio manager creates anindividual process for every radio resource discovered upon startup.Each process is given its own TCP port. This allows each radio resourceto be commanded, either locally or remotely, via the system's IP addressand its TCP port.

The radio access thread manager also includes a Radio Access Thread(RAT) Daemon. The RAT Daemon manages commands for each thread with aradio resource created by the radio manager.

As shown in FIG. 8, the radio manager receives a command or request froman external source. This external source may be a UE, a client or anapplication processor on a server of a remote system. As illustrated, acommand is received by the radio access thread manager of the local AP.The command is deposited into a ‘Radio Command Queue’. The command issubsequently processed and sent to a specified radio resource. In analternative embodiment, the command may be randomly sent to the firstavailable radio resource.

The radio resource receives the command in a next step, and sends aconfirmation response to the radio manager. Generally, the radioresource indicates that it has accepted the command. If the radioresource does not accept the command, the command may be returned to thecommand processor of the radio manager for dissemination to anotherradio resource.

The radio manager sends a response from its response processor to aglobal response queue in the radio access thread manager. The globalresponse queue may include statuses from both local and remotely locatedradios on other systems. By so doing, the application processor is ableto manage disparate resources over multiple systems. A greater objectiveis observed whereby a modem with maximum availability can perform thetask sent by an administrator.

Limited Network Connectivity

According to an aspect of the application, limited connectivity areasare disparately located all over the United States and other regions ofthe world. Indeed, these areas may be in well-known areas of limitedcellular coverage such as between mountains, and in the desert or woods.Limited connectivity areas may also exist in or around areas havingcellular towers. These areas may experience a greater number of cellularrequests from users directed at a particular tower.

In areas experiencing such limited connectivity, voice communicationstypically have been conducted on narrowband analog radio channels, suchas for example, walkie-talkies (P2P) and citizen's band radios.Citizen's band radio services are defined by the Federal CommunicationsCommission regulations and include family radio service (FRS) andgeneral mobile radio service (GMRS) operating at 462 and 467 MHz.Citizen's band radio services also include multi-use radio service(MURS) operating at 150 MHz. New techniques for receiving and sendingencrypted communications via voice, chat, cellular or SMS are envisagedto extend the network to areas having limited or no connectivity.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary call flow describing communicationsbetween user equipment (UE) and an edge router. The edge router includesan application processor and plural, discrete radio resources. As shown,the radio resources operate on cellular, DMR, LoRA, etc. In anembodiment, the radio resources operate in at least two of cellular, DMRor LoRA. In a further embodiment, the radio resources operate in at allthree of cellular, DMR and LoRA.

LoRa is a proprietary, chirp spread spectrum (CSS) radio modulationtechnology for low power wide area network (LPWAN) used by LoRaWAN,Haystack Technologies, and Symphony Link. LoRa uses license-free subGigahertz radio frequency bands like 169 MHz, 433 MHz, 868 MHz (Europe)and 915 MHz (North America). LoRaWAN is an open LPWAN data link standardmaintained by the LoRa Alliance. In the OSI stack model, LoRaWAN wouldcorrespond to the Media access control (MAC) layer.

The Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) standard is a European private networkcommunication standard issued by ETSI (European TelecommunicationsStandards Institute) for taking place of the analog Private Mobile Radio(PMR). DMR is advantageous in large coverage area, high transmissionrate, high spectrum efficiency and excellent energy-saving efficiency.DMR uses a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) frame structure withdouble time slot.

A trunked radio system is two-way radio system that uses a controlchannel to automatically direct radio traffic. Two-way radio systems areeither trunked or conventional, where conventional is manually directedby the radio user. Trunking is a more automated and complex radiosystem, but provides the benefits of less user intervention to operatethe radio and greater spectral efficiency with large numbers of users.Instead of assigning, for example, a radio channel to one particularorganization at a time, users are instead assigned to a logicalgrouping, a “talk group”. When any user in that group wishes to conversewith another user in the talkgroup, a vacant radio channel is foundautomatically by the system and the conversation takes place on thatchannel. Many unrelated conversations can occur on a channel, making useof the otherwise idle time between conversations. Each radio transceivercontains a microcomputer to control it. A control channel coordinatesall the activity of the radios in the system. The control channelcomputer sends packets of data to enable one talkgroup to talk together,regardless of frequency. The primary purpose of this type of system isefficiency. Many people can carry many conversations over only a fewdistinct frequencies. Trunking is used by many government entities toprovide two-way communication for fire departments, police and othermunicipal services, who all share spectrum allocated to a city, county,or other entity.

In another embodiment, the system can transmit data to a network. Thedata may be rich. The system can receive, process, and relay databetween multiple radio technologies including multimedia information.The content relayed and processed is limited only by the bandwidthavailable in a given technology. It is envisaged the data may betransmitted over a specific ISM band. An exemplary frequency of the ISMband is 900 MHz.

The UE includes a display upon which an application can be accessed viaa graphical user interface (GUI). The UE also includes a radio (e.g.,modem) to communicate with one of the radio resources of the edgerouter. In this use case, the UE is located in a predefined area withlimited network connectivity. In an exemplary use case, there is nonetwork connectivity in the predefine area.

It is assumed in this example that the UE has downloaded an applicationto interface with the edge router. More particularly, the applicationwas downloaded while the UE was connected to a network. Initially, theapplication may initialize itself with the radio in the UE. Eitherconcurrently or subsequently thereafter, the radio in the UEsynchronizes itself with a radio of the edge router. The radio of the UEsends a request to the radio of the edge router. In turn, the radio ofthe edge router forwards the request to the application processor. Theedge router may evaluate the type of message in the received request.The message may be in the form of a chat from a commercial messagingapplication (CMA), SMS, or in voice format. Then, the edge router sendsa reply to the radio on the UE which ultimately updates the userinterface.

In a further embodiment, the application processor is configured toclose an individualized session created for one of the modems associatedwith the UE. This can occur when the application/UE has moved out of apredetermined area or has been actively disabled by the UE.

According to another embodiment, the application processor may conduct ascan of UE in a predetermined area with little or no networkconnectivity. The scan may be based upon a last known address of themobile equipment during a period of network connectivity. In anembodiment, the last known address could be obtained via a ping fromanother UE that is connected to the edge router. It is envisaged thatthe application processor of an edge router may also scan a location foranother edge router. By so doing, the application processor may be ableto extend the search in areas of limited or no connectivity.

In the deployment illustrated in FIG. 10, the configurable radiosolution can act as an edge gateway for remote hikers without cellularservice. This may create a gateway to wider area networks (cellular), ormore metro area networks (MAN) such as DMR or P25 trunked mobile systemsto alert rangers. The gateway in this scenario includes multiple P2Pradios integrated to either a NPS Trunked Mobile system or to aninternet/cellular text-based system. This could be Cellular, SMS or CMA,such as for example, WhatsApp, Google Hangouts, or Viber. The radios mayalso be LoRa-enabled. That is, Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) forwireless battery operated things in a regional, national or globalnetwork. Lora includes bi-directional communication, mobility andlocalization services. Communications between the UE and gateway isspread out on different frequency channels and data rates.

As shown in FIG. 10, an edge router (e.g., square) may be located in anarea with limited or no connectivity. For example, the area may be anational park. The one or more UEs (e.g., hikers) may be configured withemergency services and/or a cellular/wired backhaul to connect withother UEs. In this scenario, an individual with a point-to-point or LANtechnology-enabled Mobile Station (MS) or UE is able to maintainconnectivity with emergency services or contacts via the edge gatewayrouter.

The communication flow for a remote hiker may include and is not limitedto the following protocols discussed below. The hiker could registerwith the network policy server (NPS) of a preferred gateway protocol.For instance, a side-channel approach allows for a user to registertheir preferred NPS technology. All received messages would be relayedto that individual. Similarly, a specific message header could be usedto direct messages to that park's emergency services. The adaptation ofthe multi-radio architecture extends these capabilities. Where LoRaspecifies a generic 3G, Ethernet, or Wi-Fi service, the multi-radioarchitecture of this application allows for multiple data capablebackhauls to extend the cellular network. It also extends the state ofthe art by acting as a technology gateway among different WANtechnologies, including for example, LoRa to CMA and LoRA to SMS.Indeed, one radio may receive an input via LoRa, and another radioresource may transmit an output via CMA.

According to yet another embodiment, the system includes a singleapplication processor operably coupled to multiple, discrete radioresources each including a modem. The system is configured tocommunicate with one or more UEs positioned at a location with limitedconnectivity. The system is configured to execute instructions ofdetermining that the UE has a registered application. As discussedabove, registration occurs when there is some network connectivity. Thesystem may receive a request from the UE to access a network. Thenetwork may be a cellular network. The request may be sent by the systemto the cellular network. The system may receive a reply from thecellular network. The reply may be in SMS or CMA format. The receivedreply from the cellular network may be forwarded to the UE.

According to yet another embodiment, the UE may wish to communicate withanother UE in the area having limited connectivity. The communicationmay include rich data transmission over a CMA format. The communicationmay also be in a SMS format. The UE obtain a request from the UE andsubsequently send the communication to the other UE.

According to even another embodiment, an Application or App is providedon a display of a UE for allowing a user to communicate with the system.The App is manipulated via a GUI. An example of the UE including the APPis illustrated in FIG. 4. It is presumed that the user has downloadedthe App on the UE prior to entering a location with limited or nonetwork connectivity. The App may be used to communicate with the systemacting as an edge router ultimately to send/receive messages or usenetwork (e.g., cellular network) resources to browse the internet.

In an alternative embodiment, the UE may obtain a request from thecommunication system seeking permission to initiate a session. Therequest may be received during a scanning activity of the communicationsystem to identify all UEs in a predetermined location. This isparticularly useful in locations such as the mountains or desert.

Overloaded Network Gateway

In another aspect of the application, instances may arise where acellular network becomes overloaded. This may be caused by a saturationof UEs in a small area attempting to send or receive requests from acell tower. As a result, the quality of circuit-switched andpacket-switched services is dramatically reduced. While DMR/TrunkedMobile provides voice capabilities, conventional services limit richdata transmission.

As will be used herein, the term “overloaded” implies the number oramount of requests, tasks, or data generated or input for a specificnetwork entity is larger than that of requests, tasks, or data that canbe processed. Moreover, “overloaded” and “congested” may also havesimilar meanings in the context of this application.

In an embodiment regarding overloaded networks, upwards of 1 millionindividuals may pack the DC area for various demonstrations or parades.Similar to other high-traffic public places such as State Capitols, thecellular infrastructure may become severely overloaded. While publicservants such as policemen and firemen have discrete access to VHF andUHF bands, rich forms of communication are not available to them. MostP25 and PTT applications are simplex communications and do not permitrapid sharing of information in dynamic environments. Additionally,conventional radios have high observability and may draw unwantedattention. Using a relay technology will allow for standardcommunications and the transfer of the load outside of the congestedarea.

Moreover, general users of UEs desire options to communicate with otherusers in an area even when network connectivity is overloaded. Thecurrent architecture overlays additional capabilities with alternativepeer-to-peer and mesh network topologies into a robust framework. Forexamples, the multi-radio resource solution includes services such aslocal caching, geospatial awareness, inter-technology routing (e.g.between cellular and Lora), local processing (e.g., objectclassification to send information over constrained links), and spectrummonitoring.

In an embodiment, the multi-radio resource topology allows forconnections to multiple end-users. The topology can also bridgedifferent wireless wide area networks (WAN) technologies, such as LTEand LoRa. The single AP to multiple radio resources allows for themanagement of data flow among multiple clients. The multi-radio resourcetopologies include architecture described above and as illustrated inFIGS. 1A and 1B. The inter-gateway links can also be formed using aradio (e.g., microwave, cellular, VPN or Wi-Fi).

As shown in an exemplary embodiment in FIG. 11, edge routers are denotedby squares in the map. The squares are placed at predetermined areas ofinterest. In some scenarios they may be evenly spaced. In alternativescenarios they may be organized by the quantity of users in a location.The communication between separate edge routers including modem bankswas discussed above in regard to FIG. 7. In reference to FIG. 11, theshield-shaped symbols are indicative of UEs in the area trying tocommunicate with one another. Each UE is connected to a radio resourceof one of the three edge routers in FIG. 11. Specifically, the threeedge routers shown in FIG. 11 share information governing theirrespective capacities. Indeed, they act in harmony for a higher purpose.An application processor of one edge router may be able to control radioresources of another edge router. By so doing, resources can be pooledto ensure users are able to effectively communicate to one another.

In an embodiment of this aspect, a communication system in an overloadednetwork is described including a first edge router. The edge routerincludes a single application processor operably coupled to a localgroup of discrete radio subsystems. Each of the radio resources includesone or more modems. The single application processor of the first edgerouter is configured to execute the instructions of receiving a requestfrom a first mobile equipment to communicate with a second mobileequipment in the congested network. Here the mobile equipment may be awireless device, such as a smartphone, wearable technology or tablet.The single application processor of the first edge router is alsoconfigured to execute the instructions of checking capacity of the localgroup of radio resources. The capacity may involve determining thenumber of protocols each radio resource is handling.

The single application processor is also configured to execute theinstructions of sending a capacity request for information to a second,remote edge router in the overloaded network. The second edge routeralso includes a single application processor and a local group ofdiscrete radio resources. Each of the radio resources includes a modem.It is noted that the number of radio resources in each edge router maybe different.

In a further embodiment, the first edge router is configured to executethe instructions of receiving the information from the second edgerouter. The information may include, for example, an availability of oneor more available radio resources s in the second edge router. The firstedge router then determines which one of the radio resources of thelocal group of the first and second edge routers can effectively handlethe request from the first mobile equipment. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 12, the radio server, e.g., edge router, with an IP address of127.0.0.1 is considered the first edge router. The first edge routerincludes plural radio resources. These radio resources are consideredlocal radio resources. Meanwhile, four radio servers with IP addressesof 192.168.0.5, 192.168.0.6, 192.168.0.7 and 192.168.0.X describe thesecond and subsequent edge routers in the architecture. Each of theseedge routers has plural, discrete radio resources. These radio resourcesare considered remote radio resources. The information may also includecapacity of the modems of the radio resources in the first and secondgroups.

The first edge router includes a GUI displaying a dashboard of activityin the architecture. This was shown and described above in FIG. 4. Eachof the edge routers includes an independent GUI for monitoring activity.The GUI also provides functionality for managing the respective edgerouters listed under the “Modem Managers” tab.

In a further embodiment, the first edge router assigns one of theavailable radio resources to reply to the request from the first UE. Allradio resources are pooled together and utilized to ensure requests fromusers are adequately handled. Subsequently, the message from the firstUE may be sent to a second UE. The second UE would also be associatedwith a local or remote radio resource in the network. In one embodiment,the request from the first UE may be over a first communication path.The communication to the second UE may be in the same or differentcommunication path. The communication paths chosen by the radioresources include one or more of LoRA, DMR, Wi-Fi and cellular.

According to yet another embodiment, the radio resources may bereassigned according to the edge router's assessment of capacity. It isenvisaged in this application that reassignment may be achieved inreal-time. This concept will be described in more detail below.

According to yet even a further embodiment, the radio resource may beconfigured to perform local caching. This may be applicable if or whenthe UE goes out of range from the edge router or network. The localcaching can save data from neighboring peers or save its own messagesuntil within range of the edge router

In another aspect of the application, a communication system isenvisaged including a first and second edge router. The first edgerouter includes a single application processor operably coupled to alocal group of discrete radio resources each including a modem. Thesecond edge router includes a single application processor operablycoupled to a local group of discrete radio resources each including amodem in a congested network. The first edge router is configured tocontrol the local group of discrete radio resources of the second edgerouter. In another embodiment, the second edge router is configured tocontrol the local group of discrete radio resources of the first edgerouter. This was shown and described above, for example, in FIG. 6.

The first edge router may also be configured determine information ofone or more of the radio resources of the local group of the first andsecond edge routers to handle the request of the user equipment. Theinformation includes availability of one or more available modems ofradio resources in the second edge router. The information may includecapacity of the modems in the first and second local groups. After thedetermining instruction, one of the radio resources may be assigned bythe first edge router to handle the request.

The communication system includes a communication path of the radioresources may be selected from LoRA, DMR and cellular. The communicationsystem also describes a first edge router reassigning the request basedupon a review of capacity of the radio resources.

In yet another aspect of the application, a method for controllingcommunication in a network is envisaged. The method includes a step ofproviding a first edge router including a single application processoroperably coupled to a local group of discrete radio resources. Themethod also includes a step of receiving a request from a first userequipment to communicate with a second user equipment. The method alsoincludes a step of checking capacity of the local group of radioresources. The method further includes a step of sending a request forcapacity to a second, remote edge router including a single applicationprocessor and a local group of discrete radio resources. In anembodiment, the method includes a step of receiving the information fromthe second edge router. The first edge router may also determine one ormore of the radio resources of the local group of the first and secondedge routers to handle the request from the first user equipment. In afurther embodiment, the first edge router may perform the step ofassigning one of the available radio resources to reply to the requestfrom the first user equipment. Subsequently, it may send thecommunication to the second user equipment via the assigned, availableradio resource.

Network Scanning and Testing

According to yet another aspect of this application, it is envisagedthat the ability to manage multiple radio resources associated with oneor more application processors allows for a distributed and optimizednetwork analytics tool. The technology may work on cellular, Wi-Fi and802.11 wireless networks. It may also be extended to other wirelesstechnologies with persistent and broadcast carriers. Thesegeographically distributed radios resources including modems can be madelocation aware with attached GPS to undergo coordinated network surveysfor deeper analysis.

FIG. 13 illustrates multiple communication systems in a location that ismade location-aware. One or more of the systems can communicate with athird party. The third party may be a network provider or other vendorwishing to obtain information regarding network throughput. The obtainedinformation on temporarily or permanently deployed systems can be usedto help monitor a spectrum for misuse and identify cell ‘breathing’. Theinformation may also be used to run data throughput tests to helpidentify an overloaded BSC or MSC. Each of the communication systems inFIG. 13 is denoted by a square. These communication systems cancommunicate with the third party consumer as illustrated by the serverto the right of the map.

As shown in FIG. 14, the third party, e.g., network provider, may beprovided with a list from one of the communication systems (e.g.,master) of all radio resources in the network. This may be to perform amonitoring function. The radio resources with IP addresses of 127.0.0.1are local to the master communication system. Meanwhile, radio resourceswith the IP address 10.118.32.165 are remotely located from the mastercommunication system. The list may appear on a GUI of a display of themaster communication system. In turn, the list may be displayed on thenetwork provider's display and can have the capability of beingmanipulated via a GUI thereon. For example, the user and the graphicaluser interface are shown in FIG. 4.

The cellular modems can be batch commanded according to design documentswith command processing queues. Cellular surveys can be optimized bydistributing RAT/Band times among available modems. This helps reduce oreven eliminate seek and RF tuning time. This embodiment allows forefficient parallel processing of network scanning. Given theproliferation of radio access technologies and the continual addition ofnew frequency bands this is a critical technology to enable the captureof rich survey data. By allowing a singular modem to spend more time ona specific frequency the system is able to capture infrequentlybroadcast system information blocks.

FIG. 15 illustrates a GUI of modem manager software operating on themaster communication system. The GUI may be sent to, or, shared inreal-time, with the third party/network vendor. Under the tab,‘Managers,’ communication systems with active radio resources appeardifferent. Namely, these communication systems include some form of anindication after the IP address. Here, the indication is configured as adot. The configuration may also include a color, such as for exampleblue or green to exemplify an active status. As shown in FIG. 15, twocommunication systems are indicated as having active radio resourcesbased on the dot following the IP address. These two communicationsystems have IP addresses of 10.118.32.165 and 127.0.0.1.

FIG. 16 illustrates another embodiment of the modem manager software.Here, the tab for populating the modems has been selected. Inparticular, this is shown on the GUI and describes specific radioresources with modems associated with the master communication system(address of 127.0.0.1). Since each of these modems has an IP addressbeginning with 10.118.32.165, they are considered remote.

FIG. 17 is yet a further embodiment of the modem manager software. FIG.17 illustrates a tab of the modem manager software associated with‘Devices.’ This tab provides information on the physical devices, i.e.,radio resources. For example, for modem 2, the status is on and itsinformation includes card type, client, file, imei, IP address, modemtype, name, product identification, port, script name, slot, status andversion.

According to yet another embodiment, a request from a network providermay be received at the master communication system to conduct a test ofthe network. The master communication system may be used to rapidly loadslices of the network to identify weak points in high traffic. Byloading slices of the network, the communication system can assesswhether any radio resources and clients/UEs are misbehaving. By havingmultiple modems/radio resources run against the RAN slice of a network,multiple messages can be tested in a rapid manner to determine maximumnetwork capacity. In an exemplary embodiment, the testing may simulateactivity corresponding to a large sporting event where many peoplerequest services simultaneously. Absent simulations, these multiple,concurrent requests for access is difficult to test without many UEs. Tosimulate more physical UEs, the communication system can rapidlyreassign virtual UEs to a compliant Network Subsystem (NSS) with anaccepting home or visitor location register (HLR/VLR). Network slicetraffic generation with coordinated radio resources can greatly increasenetwork robustness prior to deployment.

FIGS. 18A-F illustrate real-time GUIs of tests being conducted on thenetwork. The GUIs may appear on a display of the master communicationsystem or the network provider. For example, FIG. 18A illustrates a GUIof a cellular survey. The screen is titled ‘Start Survey.’ The surveycan be started or canceled via prompts. Specifically, the number ofradio resources/modems can be selected. Here, the prompt for all modemswas selected resulting in 2 modems. Moreover, the prompt to selectdifferent RATs—GSM, UMTS and LTE—displays all being selected. All bandsof each RAT were further selected. A GUI for ‘Minimum Levels’ appearsbeneath the GUI for RATs and Bands. The minimum and maximum level ofeach RAT is also customizable.

FIG. 18B illustrates a subsequent screen with a GUI. This screen showsan active survey. A prompt to stop the survey is also provided. As thescanning survey proceeds, the number of decoded cells is populated onthe GUI in real-time. In particular, cell counts for each of the RATsare provided. As shown in FIG. 18B, 1 UMTS cell has been found and ithas been decoded. Neither GSM nor LTE had any cells. As a result, thereis one Total cell and it has been decoded.

Moreover, the Decode Progress' is provided beneath the ‘Cell Counts’section. As shown, 4210 of 5666 cells have been decoded. The totalnumber decoded is defined by the number of specific ARFCN/UARFCN/EARFCNin the selected RATs and bands designated by the user. Beneath the ‘CellCounts’ section is a representation of ‘Modem States’. In FIG. 18C, thesecond menu option of ‘Cells’ is displayed on the GUI. The other menuoptions are Dashboard′ and ‘Config.’ As shown in FIG. 18C, the publicland mobile network (PLMN) identity is 58232. The RAT is UMTS, the bandis 1, the local area code (LAC) is 1, and the cell id is 51002.

FIGS. 18E and 18F illustrate GUIs of stored information blocks (SIBs)for the cell 58232151002. System Information Blocks are critical inidentifying the configuration of deployed networks. Understanding thebroadcast SIBs can allow for reconfiguring the network to optimalconditions or identify rogue transmitters being broadcast in ownedspectrum or on an incorrectly assigned PLMN.

In yet another embodiment of this aspect, a system for performingscanning instructions is provided. The system includes a singleapplication processor, a non-transitory memory, and plural, discretelocal radio resources operably in communication with the singleapplication processor. Each of the local radio resources may include oneor more modems. The single application processor is configured toexecute the following instructions for scanning the network. One of theinstructions includes receiving, from a third party, a request to run ascan of a network. The third party may include a network provider. Thethird party may also include data analytic companies.

In an exemplary embodiment, the request from the third party is touncover active radio resources in the network. Active radio resourcescan be described as those radio resources with bandwidths to handle arequest from the third party. Moreover, the request may be for aspecific radio access technology. The technologies may include, forexample, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G/LTE and 5G. The request may also befor a band of the radio access technology.

Another instruction includes scanning the network for the local radioresources. The single application processor is also configured to scanthe network for remote radio resources each operably in communicationwith another single application processor. Information relating to thescanned local and remote radio resources can be displayed on the GUI.The local and remote radio resources operate in LoRa, digital mobileradio (DMR) and cellular. Active cells in the network that have beendecoded while scanning may also be populated.

Next, the system can display information relating to the scanned localand remote radio resources. The information is selected from a publicland mobile network identity, local area code, band, radio accesstechnology, cell id., signal strength, signal quality, last update, andcombinations thereof. This is shown, for example, in FIG. 18C. Further,a report of the decoded active cells may be sent to the third party. Itis envisaged that the report can sent upon obtaining predeterminedcriteria. For example, should specific characteristics such as RAT,band, signal strength and signal quality be determined for a partialsubset of the radio resources in the network, the results of the locatedradio resources can be forward to the third party.

Another embodiment of this aspect is directed to a system for conductingtesting of a network. The system may include a single applicationprocessor, a non-transitory memory, and plural, discrete local radioresources operably in communication with the single applicationprocessor. Each local radio resource includes one or more modems.

The single application processor is configured to execute a set ofinstructions related to network testing. Initially, the system receivesa request from a third party to perform network testing. The thirdparty, as discussed above, may be a network provider or a data analyticsprovider.

The request may include loading a slice of the network. Moreover, therequest may be for a specific radio access technology. The technologiesmay include, for example, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G/LTE and 5G. Therequest may also be for a band of the radio access technology. By sodoing, the network provider can obtain information on weak spots in hightraffic. The network provider can also obtain information of misbehavingor uncertified UEs in the network.

Pursuant to the request, the system can determine the local radioresources and remote radio resources in the network. The remote radioresources are each operably in communication with another singleapplication processor of another system in the network. Some remoteradio resources may be in communication with a similar, other singleapplication processor. As a result, these radio resources would beconsidered local to the same single application processor of anothersystem (i.e., second system). These radio resources may be consideredremote when viewed by the single application processor of the firstsystem. The system may receive plural messages from the third party forthe network test. The plural messages are intended to be sent to thelocal and remote radio resources in the network to test networkcapacity. The radio resources may operate in at least one of LoRa, MDRand WAN.

Upon receipt of the plural messages, the system may send them to a queue(FIG. 8). The queue is located in a radio access thread of the singleapplication processor. The system then sends the messages to the localand remote radio resources in the network. Next, the system isconfigured to evaluate capacity of the network. The systems perform theevaluation based on how the radio resources respond to the pluralmessages. As shown, the radio resources can operate in at least one ofcellular, DMR, LoRA, etc. In an embodiment, the radio resources operatein at least two of cellular, DMR or LoRA. In a further embodiment, theradio resources operate in at all three of cellular, DMR and LoRA.Finally, the system transmits data of the evaluated capacity to thethird party.

According to a further embodiment, the single application processor maybe configured to further execute the instructions of receiving a requestfrom the third party to reassign radio resources to the network. Thisrequest occurs after the system sends data to the third party. By sodoing, the system may run another test on the slice of the network. Thesystem reviews active radio resources outside of the slice of thenetwork. The information may be shown and manipulated on a GUI of adisplay. The system then determines the radio resources to reassign tothe slice of the network. To do so, the single application processorcommunicates with the single application processor of another systemwith regard to utilizing its local radio resources. In one embodiment,the single application processor is part of the master communicationsystem and is able to override other requests for radio resources.Subsequently, the master communication system may reassign thedetermined radio resources to the slice.

According to yet another embodiment, the system may receive additionalmessages from the third party to send along to radio resources in theslice of the network. Similar to the steps described above, the messagesare received and sent to a queue in a radio access thread of the singleapplication processor. The messages are then sent to the radioresources. Each of the radio resources responds to the singleapplication processor with a status of the task. The single applicationprocessor aggregates all of the responses into a list. The list isevaluated and a further report is provided to the third party toreevaluate the network slice.

In a further embodiment, FIG. 19 illustrates a traffic generator modulerunning on a master communication system to send a modem communicationflow to a MSC. Here, the master communication system includes 64 radioresources including modems. In order to communicate with the MSC, thesystem requests a channel from the BTS/BSC. The BTS/BSC provides animmediate assignment. Thereafter, the master communication system sendsa location update request, via the BTS/BSC, to the Messaging ServiceCenter (MSC) including a visitor location register (VLR) and a homelocation register (HLR) on the GSM network.

The forwarded location update request to the MSC may be accepted orrejected. The MSC will perform an HLR lookup. Ultimately, the responsefrom the MSC is sent via the BTS/BSC to the master communication system.If the location update was rejected, the master communication system canbegin emulating another handset by changing both the IMSI and IMEI. Thissimulates the loading of a network in events where many subscribers areattempting to simultaneously register. These events can occur in andaround natural disasters or in situations where nearby towers have afault.

According to yet another embodiment, the communication system mayinclude a SMS-Generator module as shown in FIG. 20. The SMS-Generatormodule of the communication system includes up to 64 interconnectedlocal radio resources including modems. Similar to FIG. 19, thecommunication system may communicate with the UE over a network, i.e.,GSM. In so doing, the communication system broadly performs thefollowing tasks: (i) initiate a process, (ii) apply RAT lock, (iii)register on a network; and (iv) select a SMS to send to the UE. TheSMS-Generator/communication system includes a bank of messages in amessage queue. The communication system selects one of the modems fromthe registered modem pool to deliver the SMS message to the UE.

In order to deliver the SMS message, the communication system first mustregister on a network if not already done so. Once registration iscomplete, the communication system sends, via a selected modem, a SMSrequest including a destination # and a SM-SC #, to the BTS/BSC. Inturn, the BTS/BSC communicates with the MSC and sends it the SMS, Dest #and SM-SC #. The MSC includes a Home SMSC and a Destination SMSC. TheHome SMSC and Dest SMSC send the SMS request, Dest IMSI and originalnumber to the UE. As a result, the UE receives the SMS message. Thissystem can be used for emergency notification systems at business,automated verification systems, or for distribution of information tosubscribed parties.

While the system and method have been described in terms of what arepresently considered to be specific embodiments, the disclosure need notbe limited to the disclosed embodiments. It is intended to cover variousmodifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similarstructures. The present disclosure includes any and all embodiments ofthe following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communication system comprising: a firstapparatus including a single application processor, a non-transitorymemory operably coupled to the single application processor, and a localgroup of discrete radio resources each including a modem operablycoupled to the single application processor, the single applicationprocessor of the first apparatus being configured to execute theinstructions of: receiving a request from a first user equipment tocommunicate with a second user equipment in an overloaded network;checking capacity of the local group of radio resources; and sending acapacity request for information to a second, remote apparatus in theoverloaded network, the second apparatus including a single applicationprocessor, non-transitory memory operably coupled to the singleapplication processor, and a local group of discrete radio resourceseach including a modem operably coupled to the single applicationprocessor.
 2. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the firstapparatus is configured to execute the instructions of: receiving theinformation from the second apparatus; and determining, from the radioresources of the local group of the first and second apparatuses, adedicated radio resource to handle the request from the first userequipment.
 3. The communication system of claim 1, wherein theinformation includes availability of radio resources in the secondapparatus.
 4. The communication system of claim 3, wherein theinformation includes capacity of the radio resources in the first andsecond local groups.
 5. The communication system of claim 4, wherein thefirst apparatus is configured to execute the instructions of assigningone of the available radio resources to reply to the request from thefirst user equipment.
 6. The communication system of claim 5, whereinthe first apparatus is configured to execute the instructions of sendingthe communication to the second user equipment via the assigned,available radio resource.
 7. The communication system of claim 6,wherein the request from the first user equipment is received over afirst communication path, and the communication is sent to the seconduser equipment over a different communication path.
 8. The communicationsystem of claim 7, wherein the communication path is selected from LoRA,digital mobile radio and metro access network.
 9. The communicationsystem of claim 5, wherein the first apparatus is configured to executethe instructions of reassigning the communication based upon a review ofthe capacity of the radio resources and the location of the userequipment.
 10. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the firstand second apparatuses are edge routers.
 11. A communication systemcomprising: a first edge router including a single applicationprocessor, a non-transitory memory operably coupled to the singleapplication processor, and a local group of discrete radio resourceseach including a modem operably coupled to the single applicationprocessor; and a second edge router, operably in communication with thefirst edge router, the second edge router including a single applicationprocessor, a non-transitory memory operably coupled to the singleapplication processor, and a local group of discrete radio resourceseach including a modem operably coupled to the single applicationprocessor, wherein the first edge router is configured to control thelocal group of discrete radio resources of the second edge router tohandle a request from user equipment.
 12. The communication system ofclaim 11, wherein the second edge router is configured to control thelocal group of discrete radio resources of the first edge router. 13.The communication system of claim 11, wherein the first edge router isconfigured to execute the instructions of: determining information ofone or more of the radio resources of the local group of the first andsecond edge routers to handle the request of the user equipment, andassigning one of the radio resources to handle the request.
 14. Thecommunication system of claim 11, wherein the information includesavailability of one or more available radio resources in the second edgerouter.
 15. The communication system of claim 14, wherein theinformation includes capacity of the radio resources in the first andsecond local groups.
 16. The communication system of claim 11, wherein acommunication path of the radio resources is selected from LoRA, digitalmobile radio and metro access network.
 17. The communication system ofclaim 11, wherein the first edge router is configured to execute theinstructions of reassigning the request based upon a review of capacityof the radio resources.
 18. A method for controlling communication in anetwork comprising: providing a first edge router including a singleapplication processor, a non-transitory memory operably coupled to thesingle application processor, and a local group of discrete radioresources operably coupled to the single application processor;receiving a request from a first user equipment to communicate with asecond user equipment; checking capacity of the local group of radioresources; and sending a request for capacity to a second, remote edgerouter including a single application processor, a non-transitory memoryoperably coupled to the single application processor, and a local groupof discrete radio resources operably coupled to the single applicationprocessor.
 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising: receiving theinformation from the second edge router; and determining one or more ofthe radio resources from the local group of the first and second edgerouters available to handle the request from the first user equipment.20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: assigning one of theavailable radio resources to reply to the request from the first userequipment; and sending the communication to the second user equipmentvia the assigned, available radio resource.